Southwest Utah: Dual Sport Riding from St. George

[Superhawk]

Awesome shots ! Zion and the road

[bomose]

I love the shots of Zion.Wish I could do some slot canyons. Whereas you take the low road, my wife and I take the high road to Angel's Landing.

[RedRockRider]

Lots of rain last week. Virgin River through St. George was flowing strong. Jumped into the inflatable kayaks one evening with my sister and her dog. Here's a shot, taken between River Road and the I-15 bridge. Good times.




Moto time at Brian Head for part of the weekend. Tough as nails KLX 110.




Our little caravan parked for a snack at the High Mountain Meadow with great views of Cedar Breaks.




The happy moto driver. My son did great handling some rougher terrain!




Beautiful wife. New hair color! Always happy to be hanging out with her boys.




Son ready to roll. "No more pictures, Daddy. Let's go!"




Final shot as my son takes off. Some aspen are stating to turn at high elevation. Next few weeks will be prime color at high elevation in southern Utah. Gorgeous! Get out there if you can.




Thanks for checking in. Ride safe, ride often!

[browneye]

Subscribed. Lots of great pix and info.

A group of 12 of us covered much of the area this year, RR in my sig.

Will keep an eye out for more great destinations in the red rock.

[RedRockRider]

320 mile loop from St. George. Over the Utah hill to Beaver Dam AZ. Good frontage roads along I-15 to Mesquite, Bunkerville, back on I-15 at Riverside (Virgin River bridge). About 20 miles on I-15 south to Moapa exit. 168 west to Coyote Springs, north on 93 to Alamo, then west to Caliente. Lunch. Back into Utah via Modena. Beryl Junction. South to Enterprise, Veyo on 18 and back to St. George.

Excellent motorcycle roads. Very little traffic. A few long, straight stretches on 93 north, but lots of sweepers and a few tight turns. Versys and my buddie's new Suzuki DL650 are well-suited for this type of riding.

Versys probably averaged 50 mpg, DL650 a bit more at 55 mpg. Lots of travel between 60-80 mph, sometimes perhaps a bit more . . . You gotta love Nevada for open roads. Serious Supersport Touring territory - made me want to go look at an FJR.

A few pics. Our bikes on the bridge over the Virgin River south of Bunkerville, NV. Map says Riverside, but there is no town - nothing here but a bridge. Ken's bike looking good with airline bag, ready for travel.




Lots of recent rain. River is running strong for this time of year. Muddy brown. Small sand waves. Main channel is probably only 1 foot deep, but it looks impressive.




Intersection of NV #168 with 93 at Coyote Springs. Jack Nicklaus designed course is adjacent to road. Not much at all in this area. Link to flyover: http://www.coyotesprings.com/flyover.html




North to Alamo, NV. The ubiquitous Sinclair dinosaur. Alamo is kind of a local gathering spot. Good place to stop for a late morning snack.




Inside the local convenience store. My stuff, cold and wet. I think Ken went for the gourmet (fresh?) popcorn.




Good road from Alamo to Caliente, some of the best of the trip. Stopping at one of the passes. Just the right amount of elevation changes plus curves.




Lunch in Caliente. Rumor was it may have been Ken's B-day. All you can eat, on me. Maybe $10 damage -- cheap eats. Nice folks in the diner, but they were not in a hurry on a Tuesday afternoon. Caliente is a good stop for food and gas. Nice roads (pavement and dirt) in the area, plus a historic train station and active track. See post #286 on page 20.




After the proper amount of food, drink, and BS, we continued back into Utah. Near Beryl Junction. Hay country.




Last stop in Veyo before dropping back down into St. George. Very nice riding with Ken. Seems to really like his bike. Modest farkles continue, and he's kept it now for several months. Impressive!




If you're near St. George, stop in at MotoZoo and look for Ken. Top dog in sales. He knows bikes and will be happy to give you some good-natured grief on why your current ride is inadequate. http://www.mzpowersports.com/

As always, thanks inmates and lurkers! Get out and ride!

[ElleDubs]

Wow, nice job getting out and exploring. I am enjoying your pics and route descriptions. I recognize a few of those roads.

Subscribed.

[RedRockRider]

One year anniversary for this thread. Lots of great rides and good times. Index in post #1 for noobs and lurkers. Over 76,000 views and going strong. Thanks for all the positive encouragement. Enjoyed rides with some inmates, looking forward to more. Southwest Utah is fantastic year round motorcycle (dirt and pavement) territory. Enjoy.

Specific thanks to recent posters:

purplesage
Mr Head
TheAdmiral
ringokelly
VFR
wbbnm
Superhawk
bomose
DirtyJohnny
Signal
quota
av_mech
GeoMoto
Wastegate84
samthg
Ol Man
DCZ
swimmer
NSFW
Bob
jpkailua
mknight
browneye
ElleDubs

[TheAdmiral]

in the background of the hay baler your Versys looked like it was painted in John Deere colors!

Kind of neat you could get a photo of the muddy braided river, don't usually see that very often.

Thanks for sharing.

P.S. Happy Southwest Utah: Dual Sport Riding from St. George anniversary.

[NSFW]

one year and doing well - congrats!

thanks triple R for the leg work, lots of good info on this thread.

[purplesage]

Wow, 76k hits and one year already, that's great! Liked the shot of your sister and her dog on the Virgin River, that's funny, don't see too many dogs in rafts!
Enjoyed your recent Nevada trip. The Sinclair dino is something I always remember from childhood, good to see they are still around (with pink backpack and all!)
Great stuff RRR, look forward to more great riding from your corner of the state and beyond.

[RedRockRider]

Great ride with Dad this past weekend. We were at Brian Head and had the chance to do the Skutumpah Road. We had been thinking about this for a month or two. Here's the map.




The Skutumpah Road is mid-quality dirt (highly variable based on weather/rain) from Cannonville down to the Johnson Canyon /Glendale Bench Road. Skutumpah is part of Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and traverses some rugged desert canyon country east of Bryce National Park. The northern section of road by Willis Creek and Bull Valley Gorge is more interesting, but on a moto it's all good.

We are starting at Brian Head. Usually we patronize the local gas station. Pricier than it should be but convenient. Good to start full.




On UT 143, near Cedar Breaks. At 10,000 ft the fall aspen color is at its peak.




We know we'll lose this once we drop elevation so it's worth a few pics. The next week or two should still be very colorful, especially at 8,000 to 10,000 feet. Duck Creek area may be at its peak this next weekend.




We ride on good gravel near Mammoth Creek eastward to Hatch.




There is some pavement time on this trip, but it's all good. This is on UT 12 just past Bryce Canyon Junction descending towards Tropic.




Roadside info. The night skies are spectacular.




We gas up again in Tropic. No services of any kind on the Skutumpah Road. Always start full.




An old pump, on the paved road just south of Cannonville.




Fresh cut hay makes striking contrast with red, eroded cliffs.




Lots of classic western scenes.




And colorful roadside flowers.




The start of dirt at the Skutumpah Road. Kodachrome Basin State Park and the "famous" Cottonwood Canyon Road (scenic dirt) are just ahead.




The official entrance sign.




And a description of our road. The road crosses lots of drainages. Currently it is in good condition. Easy for any dual sport. Would also be fine for mid-sized road bikes -- Versys friendly. I wouldn't advise taking a Goldwing through here. After rain, the road goes from easy dirt to impassable very quickly. Not a good place to press your chances.




Dad on his Honda ascending a steeper grade with big views behind him.




We saw quite a few cars on the scenic northern section of the road, all with dust-covered rear windows.




Short stop at Sheep Creek, the first of three interesting water courses. This is the backside of a small dam which creates a marsh/swamp. The cattle in the area loved it!




Second (most interesting) drainage is Willis Creek. Nice slot canyon here. Easy and very accessible to the road. Dad has been here before, but not me. Will have to return with time to hike.




Willis creek appears to have modest running water year round. Very attractive area.




Third drainage is Bull Valley Gorge.




Dad by the Gorge. Short walk, but we didn't descend. Looks like good exploring to do here. The dirt "bridge" for the Skutumpah Road is fairly dramatic. No pics, but it is a longish drop-off on either side. Old remains of a car a wedged on one side. Drive carefully.




Shortly after, the road flattens out and turns into a bit of a faster course. Good speeds and good riding with Dad!




Occasional stop for a flower pic.




And another one in late afternoon light.




Grass airstrip (in the middle of nowhere), near private property at Dear Springs Ranch (shown on Benchmark). This would make for a bumpy landing. I only stopped at the edge, but the ground was anything but smooth.




Here's Dad at the southern end of the Skutumpah Road. Out little mission was accomplished.




We turn right and head west on the Glendale Bench Road. Excellent fast gravel, dirt.




After dropping elevation, the pavement returns near Glendale on UT 89. Lots and lots of older cars in a local "business" (junkyard) at this intersection. Would be a dream for old vehicle buffs.




One pic of a classic, just in front of my WRR. We put on extra layers and prepare for some fast riding on pavement back to Brian Head.




Final stop for gas at Long Valley Junction. The loop rides from Brian Head are excellent. Not much more motorcycle season left for the high country, but there will be more of this with Dad next summer. Cottonwood Canyon Road will be a priority.




About 175 miles total. Excellent ride.


On Tuesday, I did a quick road ride to Zion to pick up a canyoneering permit. Here's my Versys at the entrance sign.




Wednesday (today) was a trip down Mystery Canyon. More to follow. But here is a pic of me on the last rappel (120 ft) down the cliff face of Mystery Falls. My buddy is below in the Narrows of the Virgin River. Mystery Falls is a very colorful section of the Narrows just past the end of the Riverside Walk.




Permits for more canyons in the next few days. Should be fun!

[bomose]

Here is a picture of the abyss with the car remains. My bike is on the bridge.

[RedRockRider]

At the top, near Observation Point, looking down on the upper reaches of Mystery Canyon. Start of the aptly named "death gully."




The start of the rappels. Beautiful fluted sections of slot canyon.




Lots of down climbing and obstacles.




Recent rains have "filled" Mystery Lake. Often this is a dry mud flat. Water was neck deep for 50 yards. Cold!




The canyon quickly climbs and opens up to sunshine after the lake.




Setting the rope from a ledge for the 110 ft. rappel into Mystery Springs.




The descent.




Same rap from below.




This one has a "wet disconnect." My buddy happy to photograph me in the water.




The long final rappel down Mystery Falls into the Virgin River.




Hooked up and ready to go. 120 feet above the Narrows.




Fantastic. Very pretty section of the Narrows.




Slippery footing in the waterfall.




The last of 10-12 rappels. Mystery is probably the best of the Zion technical canyons!




Feet in the Virgin River. Short walk down to Temple of Sinawava and the bus ride out.

[G19Tony]

I'm going to have to get up that way soon. I have a Versys too, and a new CRF250L. I live in Vegas, so it's not a long drive.

[bomose]

I really like the shots of the slot canyons.I watched some guys rappel into the narrows and wondered where they had been. Wonderful pics, as usual.